


Kaffee und Kuchen (Yr. 1962)

by prubun



Series: Memories [9]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Historical, Historical Hetalia, Light Angst, M/M, Nationverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24507979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prubun/pseuds/prubun
Summary: His words made Ivan smile, though he wondered if he was inconveniencing him; but he reminded himself that no one could make Gilbert do anything — Defiance was in his blood./In an attempt to bring some comfort and structure to Ivan's stressful work life, Gilbert brings him coffee and cake to help him find some normalcy.
Relationships: Russia/Prussia
Series: Memories [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1483235
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Kaffee und Kuchen (Yr. 1962)

**Author's Note:**

> ** [Posted: June 2, 2020] **
> 
> **Happy RusPru day!!**  
>  Someone in my discord had an idea that Gilbert would start bringing tea to Ivan as a way of helping him relax during the Cold War and mentioned the coffee and cake tradition. I thought it was a really cute idea that could build their friendship more during those times, so I wrote this fic about it. I had a lot of fun with this one; Ivan and Gilbert's banter back and forth like old friends makes me happy, I think it's very cute :)
> 
> **TW: Historical mentions of the Prussian coup and the Berlin Wall.**

It was eight minutes—almost nine—passed when Gilbert usually came to Ivan's office; the man operated like clockwork — high strung, ticking, but always on time. Reliable. Today was different and it admittedly made Ivan nervous. For the past several weeks, Gilbert had made it a habit to bring Ivan tea every day at exactly three o'clock in the afternoon, just when Ivan usually started to feel tired or overwhelmed with work and needed a little boost. Ivan hadn't asked him to do it; Gilbert simply showed up one day with a single cup of hot tea, brewed perfectly to his tastes. That made Ivan so immensely happy, despite how reluctant Gilbert seemed the first few times.

It didn't take Ivan long to realize that Gilbert's daily visits were entirely selfless; he would only bring one cup of tea just for Ivan and he'd sit with him and allow him to talk or vent if he needed. It was obvious that Gilbert was trying to comfort him during difficult times, even though he was also struggling to settle into his role as the GDR in recent years. It was something Ivan greatly appreciated but found it hard to say the words and he didn't know why; Gilbert hated when people made a big deal of small things so a simple 'thank you' would suffice. But to Ivan, it was no small matter; just the simple fact that Gilbert was doing something nice for him meant the world to him, especially after the past several years. 

As the clock ticked on, Gilbert was now ten minutes late; Ivan had begun to chew the end of his pen nervously, debating on whether he should go check on the other, but told himself, _'one more minute,'_ and forced himself to calm down. Finally, there was a knock on the door. Ivan scrambled to put his pen to the paper he was supposed to be reading over and signing, to make it look like he was working.

"Come in," he answered the knock. 

The door opened and Gilbert stepped in, holding a platter on one hand with what looked like two cups and plates with food on it. Dressed casually in a white button-up, black slacks, and a tie, Gilbert made his way over to Ivan's desk after closing the door. Gilbert had that expression on his face — determined yet gave the impression as if he was inconvenienced by what he was doing, even if it was his choice. Ivan was used to seeing it and one could say that Gilbert almost looked frustratingly bashful at times, as if not wanting to appear too kind or too weak. Gilbert held the platter in his hands for a moment before setting it down in front of Ivan, who leaned forward to inspect it. There were two pieces of cake — one dark chocolate, the other light and flaky, and two cups — one filled with tea, the other with coffee and both steaming hot.

"What is this?" Ivan asked and dragged his eyes up to Gilbert, who instantly rubbed at his neck and averted his eyes. 

"It's coffee and cake," he answered matter-of-factly. "Or tea. Since you prefer tea," he corrected himself quickly. Ivan noticed a small grimace of awkwardness on Gilbert's face. 

"I can see that," Ivan spoke as Gilbert moved to the side of the room and grabbed a chair. "But why...?" he asked. Gilbert inelegantly dragged the chair over and let out an exasperated sigh. He saw that stunned expression on Ivan's face.

"It's a tradition we do in Germany," Gilbert said and sat down across from Ivan at the desk. "Every day we have a piece of cake and coffee," he explained as he picked up his coffee, placing it on a coaster near him, then handed Ivan his cup of tea. Ivan reached and took it.

"You're avoiding my question," Ivan pointed out with a quiet, knowing tone. "Why are you bringing me sweet treats?" he asked. Gilbert rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Don't make it sound like I'm plotting something, it's not poisoned," Gilbert retorted.

"Of course not," Ivan spoke and took a sip of his tea. As usual, it was perfectly seeped and sugared to his exact liking. "Poison is too easy for you, you like to get _hands on,_ " Ivan smiled and loosened his scarf to show the bandage around his neck. Gilbert glared but diverted by hiding behind his cup as he took a drink.

"Do you _want_ to get choked again?" Gilbert prodded smugly but Ivan smiled at him and carefully placed his cup down.

"We both know it wouldn't solve anything," Ivan replied and pulled one of the cakes toward himself. "So, are you going to tell me why you've brought me cake? Or do I have to order you to tell me?" Ivan asked casually as he cut off a piece of the cake with his fork. Gilbert watched him eat the piece and then sighed in mild defeat. 

"I figured you'd like it," he answered honestly and it surprised Ivan for a moment, his lavender eyes going wide. Gilbert ignored it. "You like sweets, so I figured you'd like this."

"I do," Ivan spoke quickly. "It's...very good, thank you..."

Gilbert sighed quietly and leaned back in his chair. A silence filled the room, the occasional clink of Ivan's fork on the plate filling their ears. It was always like that — Gilbert would bring Ivan tea, sit in silence until Ivan was done, then leave and go back to work. This time was different and Ivan knew it immediately since Gilbert had never brought sweets for him, nor had he ever brought himself a drink. Even if he enjoyed Gilbert's company, he had to wonder why the GDR chose to sit with him. As Ivan opened his mouth with the intent to question him about why, he stopped, and shifted his focus.

"You said this is a tradition for you?" Ivan inquired awkwardly; he wasn't used to asking Gilbert such mundane, familiar questions and he felt a bit shy to do so. He wanted to ask more, curious about why Gilbert never once made cakes before. He wondered if Gilbert missed it, and why Gilbert decided to do it now.

"Yeah," Gilbert replied simply.

"What's your favorite cake?" Ivan blurted out and then bit his lip. Gilbert was mid drink when he suddenly stopped to stare at the other in disbelief; Ivan rarely looked so timid and it was almost unsettling. Gilbert didn't know how to respond at first; he knew his answer but for some reason, he hesitated.

"Chocolate," he finally said, pulling a small piece of cake toward him. He felt stiff as well. "I don't like sweets much..."

"Chocolate is rich and can be bitter," Ivan commented casually as Gilbert took a bite. He watched Gilbert chew, swallow, and then lift his cup to his lips. "And your coffee?" he asked while Gilbert drank.

"Black," Gilbert responded matter-of-factly.

"Nothing in it?"

"Nope." Ivan couldn't help but smile inwardly at Gilbert's brief answers; it was so very like him — all of it.

"Did you used to do this with Ludwig, and Roderick?" Ivan asked more softly, treading carefully. He worried that he touched a raw nerve when mentioning his brother as Gilbert fell silent then; the Wall was still a fresh wound in Gilbert's mind, having been less than a year prior, despite having willingly signed the paperwork himself.

"Not Rod," Gilbert huffed and Ivan chuckled a bit. "Trying to stomach being in a room with that priss for an hour, I'd probably vomit anything I ate, but...every day I'd eat cake and have coffee with Ludwig," he paused. "Until the coup. Haven't really touched cake since then..."

"So why now? Why with me?" Ivan finally asked, his shyness waning for a moment. Gilbert lifted his eyes to him, wide and stunned.

"I..." Gilbert stuttered, eyes darting around the room — anywhere but Ivan's expectant gaze. "You've been stressed as hell, drinking more vodka than usual and you're not sleeping normal hours," he rambled on. "I figured— Might help to set some time each day to breathe and enjoy something simple." His words made Ivan smile, though he wondered if he was inconveniencing him; but he reminded himself that no one could make Gilbert do anything — Defiance was in his blood.

"I'm sorry, it must be hard for you to take care of me when you already have so much on your plate..." Ivan apologized gently, tracing a finger along the rim of his cup. Gilbert scoffed at him.

" _Oh please,_ " Gilbert groaned, "I'd rather do this than deal with you hungover or making yourself sick. You're such a pain when you're hungover," he retorted and feigned irritation as he sipped his bitter coffee. Ivan simply smiled at his words, not bothered by the insult at all; he found comfort in it and felt happy to be with Gilbert in such a cozy way. 

"How do you know how I like my tea? I've never asked," Ivan inquired, knowing that it would likely fluster Gilbert, and it did. Gilbert pursed his lips, not wanting to say.

"I asked Katyusha..." he finally admitted as he poked his fork into his cake until a corner crumbled off onto the plate. The answer surprised Ivan and made him blush, bashfully tugging his scarf up at how thoughtful Gilbert was; he couldn't describe how touched he was by it. Gilbert noticed that, however, and felt more embarrassed and shoved a piece of cake into his mouth in an attempt to distract himself.

"You made it perfectly, thank you," Ivan commented and blew on the tea before sipping it.

"It's not that hard," Gilbert responded. "You like an unhealthy amount of sugar and a bit of milk, anyone could do that," he grumbled. Ivan chuckled, smiling at how shy Gilbert was over doing a nice thing; Gilbert wasn't used to being appreciated in such a way and Ivan found it endearing. "Anyway, what are you working on? What's all these papers?" Gilbert asked in that blunt way he always did — demanding an answer even though he was the subordinate. Ivan chuckled at his tenacity.

"I can't tell you, it's confidential," Ivan replied and covered a cheeky grin behind his teacup. Gilbert scoffed and rolled his eyes before aligning them back on Ivan.

"Like that's ever stopped you before," he retorted. Ivan laughed again at Gilbert's presumptuous nature, but he'd always liked that about him. Setting his cup aside, Ivan glanced over some of the papers before sliding them to Gilbert.

"The space program is making progress, new engines, new uh...um..." Ivan trailed off, sheepishly peeking at the paper again. "New components... Space stuff..." Gilbert cocked an amused eyebrow at Ivan as he took the papers, his red eyes scanning over them.

"You _really_ should know these things," Gilbert spoke absentmindedly as he flipped through the pages of detailed outlines of new engines, schematics for new and improved machines, and tech for the space program. Ivan pouted at him a little, feeling miffed by Gilbert's words even though he was right; Ivan was more of a romantic when it came to the space program, while Gilbert enjoyed the engineering side of it. Ivan tugged his scarf up, huffing as he swallowed some of his pride.

"I'm supposed to approve the designs," he started and Gilbert glanced up at him. "Could you...look over it? You understand this stuff more than me..." he practically grumbled. Gilbert blinked widely at him before his expression dropped to a neutral one; it was odd for Ivan to ask for help in such a way and it surprised him. Regardless, Gilbert being Gilbert, his ego was stroked and he puffed up in his chair a bit.

"You never were good with the engineering side of things," Gilbert replied haughtily, earning a subtle eye roll from Ivan. "Won't your bosses be angry with you if they find out you let the GDR see and approve confidential information? Aren't you worried about being reprimanded?" Gilbert asked as his thin lips pulled up into a grin. Ivan smiled as well, looking into Gilbert's eyes then.

"They haven't figured it out yet," Ivan implicated. "You've had your hands in many things around here, they should be grateful for your insight."

"Sure they'd be thrilled to find out," Gilbert deadpanned and went back to the papers. 

They sat in silence for a while as Gilbert read. Ivan studied him when his eyes were down. He watched his expression, the small movements of his eyes as he read across the page, as his fingers gracefully slid along the edges of the page before he flipped it to the next. Only when Gilbert looked back up to him did Ivan turn his attention back to his cake; but Gilbert wasn't stupid. He knew that Ivan was watching him. Ivan had been watching him for years now — he was used to that longing gaze of his.

"These look great. With these improvements, our space program should make great progress to get ahead of the race," Gilbert closed the pages properly and then tossed them back to Ivan, but then he noticed Ivan staring at him with wide eyes. "What?" he inquired.

"You said 'our,'" Ivan pointed out as his cheeks turned a bit pink. It was then that Gilbert realized what he did and he slumped in his chair, dismissively motioning with his hand as he groaned in response.

"Be quiet. Even you said I have my hands in a lot around here," he retorted, though he couldn't help that annoying knot in his stomach. He slipped up; got too comfortable, so...why didn't he mind it?

Ivan simply smiled and retracted into himself a little. It was nice to see that Gilbert had become more accustomed and even if he was too proud to admit it, Ivan could tell — he'd watched for long enough to know how to read Gilbert's body language.

Falling back into silence, they both ate their cake and drank their respective drinks. Once Ivan was finished, he placed his plate on the tray Gilbert brought them in on and dabbed his mouth with a napkin.

"This was very nice, Gilbert. Can I expect more cake tomorrow?" he asked and Gilbert rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Of course. I told you it's a daily tradition," Gilbert scoffed as if it was obvious. "I'm not gonna break that after one day. Who do you think I am?" His abrasive words made Ivan smile, made his cheeks blush just a little brighter as he felt the compassion behind those rough words.

"I look forward to tomorrow, then," he mused then took another sip.

**Author's Note:**

> **Thank you for reading!  
>  Please leave a comment if you enjoyed! 💕**
> 
> This fic really made me want cake...  
> I believe that this fic is the first time I even vaguely address the relationship between Gilbert and Ludwig in this series. I hope to write more of them at some point as well :)
> 
>  **Tidbit:**  
>  _Kaffee und kuchen_ (coffee and cake) is an afternoon ritual where friends, family, or coworkers will meet for an hour or two to enjoy coffee, cake, and socializing. Shortly after coffee was introduced to Germany in 1675, coffee houses began to spring up in places like Hamburg, Bremen, and Hanover. It was expensive and reserved for nobility. It's not certain when or where the first _kaffee und kuchen_ get-together took place, but it probably looked much different than today's version. Today's _kaffee und kuchen_ gatherings follow no set rules or formalities and people of all ages and social statuses can be found sharing tables, conversing and enjoying their favorite afternoon beverage.
> 
> **—**
> 
> **Social links:** <https://linktr.ee/prubun>


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